By Dipo Olowookere
Gains recorded by stocks in the banking space further strengthened the local market for equities on Friday.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed the last trading session of the week 1.41 percent higher, neutralising the year-to-date loss to 0.01 percent.
As earlier stated, the banking index buoyed Friday’s growth with its 4.10 percent rise, while the Oil/Gas followed with 1.68 percent appreciation, with the Industrial index closing 0.49 percent higher.
However, the consumer goods sector slumped by 0.14 percent, while the insurance sector declined marginally by 0.01 percent.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation increased its value by N161 billion to settle at N11.719 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) garnered 437.03 points to finish at 31,426.63 points, crossing the 31,000 mark from its previous 30,989.60 points.
Business Post reports that bargain hunting activities witnessed during the trading day led to the gains posted by 32 counters, with only 7 stocks closing in the red territory.
Total Nigeria emerged the biggest price rise, appreciating by N19.50k to close at N214.50k per unit.
It was followed by Dangote Cement, which rose by N2 to end at N194 per share, and Ecobank, which jumped by 90 kobo to close at N15 per share.
GTBank also gained 90 kobo to settle at N34.50k per share, while Zenith Bank appreciated by 85 kobo to quote at N23 per share.
At the other end, PZ Cussons ended the day as the heaviest loser, going down by 55 kobo to finish at N11.30k per share.
Unilever Nigeria fell by 45 kobo to end at N36.55k per share, while NPF Microfinance Bank slumped by 12 kobo to settle at N1.46k per share.
Flour Mills depreciated by 10 kobo to finish at N19.50k per share, while UAC Property declined by 6 kobo to close at N1.59k per share.
Though the volume of shares traded by investors increased by 55.52 percent from 268.3 million units to 417.2 million units, the value decreased by 0.05 percent to N3.1 billion from N3.2 billion.
The most traded stocks by volume on Friday were Diamond Bank (89.8 million units), FBN Holdings (64.6 million), Access Bank (60.5 million), Transcorp (36.6 million) and Zenith Bank (35.7 million).
